Bright spots from Capitol Hill's partisan divide

Authors: Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins
Crossposted from Huffington Post and Jack and Jill Politics.
This country desperately needs to overhaul our health care system. There is no doubt about that.
But Congress is also taking on another issue that is as important to the well-being of our communities: creating jobs.
And unlike health care reform, which has been plagued by divisive
politicking, some practical, concrete solutions to unemployment can
garner support from both parties.
There are two bright spots shining through the partisan funk on Capitol Hill this week.
Tomorrow the Congressional Black Caucus is holding a forum on the
chronically unemployed. The CBC's efforts to represent the needs of the
most vulnerable communities - the poor and communities of color - are
desperately needed in the Washington debate over jobs legislation.
Unemployment for African-American workers has risen to 15.8 percent, up
from 9 percent in December 2007. Youth, women, and Latinos are also
particularly hard-hit by the economic recession. The Congressional
Black Caucus's dedication to finding solutions for the chronically
unemployed is critical to creating lasting and equitable prosperity for
America's communities.
Then on Thursday, the House is holding a hearing on Home Star. This fast-acting program will spur job growth, hiring, consumer saving on utility bills, and home improvements.
Home Star is a win, win, win for workers, consumers, and the environment.
Here's how it works. The Home Star program provides homeowners with rebates of up to
$3,000 or up to $8,000 to pay for energy-saving home improvements
(also know as "energy-efficiency retrofits"). Through these
improvements, consumers use the same amount of heating, cooling,
lighting, appliances, etc. - they just burn less energy doing it. That
means consumers save money on their energy bills as they create the
demand for workers to do the upgrades.
Home Star rebates will spark hiring in construction, a sector that
has been particularly hard hit by unemployment, as well as
manufacturing and construction retail.
All in all, Home Star is projected to create 168,000 jobs, improve
3.3 million homes, and save homeowners $9.4 billion in energy costs
over 10 years. And the energy saved through Home Star will replace the
need for 4 large, polluting power plants, making it a win for the
environment as well.
Beyond these basics, there are a couple additional reasons Home Star
makes for smart job-creation policy. The program picks up where the
Recovery Act will leave off, creating jobs for weatherization workers
as Recovery funds ramp down. And built-in incentives for contractors
will ensure that low-income workers being trained now will have jobs
when their training is complete. Also, Home Star's quality assurance
provisions promote opportunities for minority contractors.
Home Star is a promising step in the right direction. It advances
solutions to our jobs and environmental crises that make sense for
everyone.
With the Congressional Black Caucus simultaneously taking on chronic
unemployment this week, there is reason to believe Congress may soon
enact real solutions that create economic opportunity for America's
communities.